Werewolf
by ilovecastiel18
Summary: An exploration of Snape's thought processes when he flung himself in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione when werewolf!Lupin was attacking them. Angst. Character Study (sort of). One-Shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters used in this story, all recognizable names, locations, and characters are property of the wonderful JK Rowling, who was lovely enough to bless us with the Harry Potter books to become obsessed with as I have.

**Summary: **An exploration of Snape's thought processes when he flung himself in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione when werewolf!Lupin was attacking them. Angst. Character Study (sort of). One-Shot.

**A/N: **A. I think we can all agree that, despite our different opinions on Snape, he is a fascinating character. B. I haven't written a HP fic in a long time, so bear with me! Please leave a review if you like it!

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Werewolf

….

Snape was pissed. He was royally, utterly, unbelievably furious at the _audacity _of Harry bloody I-think-I'm-better-than-everybody-else Potter.

Snape had barreled into the Shrieking Shack after the idiot and his little lackies, risking his personal safety to save the daft little brat and his cronies from Sirius Black, a convicted _murderer _who was trying to _kill _Potter, and what did he have to show for it?

The little heathen had attacked him, sending him flying backwards into a bedframe and knocking him out. How dare he even think that it was okay to attack a teacher?

Snape knew that it was his job to look after Potter, to save him from all the little scrapes that he got himself into that would kill him before it was his time to die, but still…

If Harry Potter attacked him one more _bloody_ time…

Those were the thoughts running through Snape's head as he stood from where he had been laying in the grass near the Whomping Willow. Which, as he thought about it, was a bloody _perfect _place to lay his unconscious body – right underneath a tree that could potentially beat him to death.

And then he saw Potter, the blasted idiot, and found himself racing over to the boy and his friends.

"There you are, Potter…" he snarled, grabbing a fistful of the boy's hoodie. But, just as he was about to unleash a tirade of profanities at the teenager, he heard a growl behind him. And that was when he registered the terrified looks on the faces of all three kids.

And when he realized exactly what day of the month it was.

Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as Snape weighed his options on what to do about the werewolf behind him.

One, he could run. He could sacrifice the stupid boy and his friends. He knew, from experience, that Lupin would go after the largest amount of prey. So, if the three of them stayed behind, Snape could escape back to the castle.

But that wasn't an option. That was never something that Snape could even consider.

Because, despite the fact that Potter was his father incarnate, that the boy strutted around the castle like he owned the place, how he always acted superior with his broomstick and messy hair… despite all of that, at the end of the day, he was Lily's son.

He was more like his mother than Snape cared to admit. He refused to recognize the kindness that Potter occasionally showed, the way that he acted like an underdog despite being the center of attention.

And, of course, there were his eyes. The same as Lily's, which made it extremely difficult for Snape to even look at him. Instead, he would give him a side-eyed glare and a scathing comment, because he could never bring himself to look into those eyes.

And, even if the boy in front of him wasn't Harry Potter, the future savior of the world… Snape was a teacher. He was a professor, and was tasked with the safety of his students, Boy-Who-Lived or not. He would never leave a student to the mercy of a bloodthirsty werewolf.

There was always the option of killing Lupin, but Snape couldn't bring himself to do that either. For one thing, it was incredibly difficult to kill a werewolf when he was transformed. He knew he could do it, but he would definitely be risking his life attempting it.

The other fact of the matter was that he knew the man that this beast was when he wasn't transformed. He knew Lupin, knew that he was a kind-hearted man with a soft, shy smile. Lupin may have tormented him in school, but he had somewhat redeemed himself as a teacher. Yes, he had been helping Sirius Black, and yes, he was trying to kill them, but he didn't know himself currently.

Snape couldn't bring himself to kill an innocent man because of a condition he couldn't control, no matter how badly said man had treated him when they were children.

So, that left him with one, and only one, option.

He whipped his body around as fast as he could, flinging his arms behind him to herd the three thirteen-year-olds behind his back. He had to protect them. He couldn't sacrifice three innocent lives for the sake of his own.

As he stared down the one thing that scared him above anything else in the entire universe, Snape felt a sense of calm wash over him. Because finally, _finally, _he had been able to do something without making an impossible decision.

Usually, he had to make life-altering, life or death decisions, risking his life and the lives of everyone around him.

But this, saving these three kids from a werewolf – there hadn't been an option. His only option was to risk himself to save those kids. Making a decision like that cleared the mind and heightened the senses.

And then, Lupin's claws were swinging down at him, scraping across his chest and knocking him and the kids down with a grunt.

And then he was scrambling to get back up, because _Merlin, he had to get Harry and Ron and Hermione back behind him before Lupin could attack again._

Suddenly, as Snape pushed the three teenagers back behind him, a black dog (the Grim?) jumped in front of them and attacked the werewolf, trying to keep the creature away from them. And then it was flung away, and Lupin was coming back.

The dog came back, led the werewolf away from them. But then it got injured, and as Lupin advanced for the kill, Potter, _the bloody idiot, _tore away from him and went after the dog.

"Come back here, Potter!" he yelled, refusing to allow worry to creep into his voice. And then the Granger girl was trying to run after him, and it took all of his strength to grab onto her arms and hold her back.

As she sank back into his chest, bringing her hands up to her face in a silent prayer, Snape felt like doing the same. He felt like sinking to the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees, and refusing to move for several years.

Because if that brainless brat got himself killed for a mangy dog, after all the effort he had put into protecting him… Snape help back an angry growl and tightened his grip on Hermione's arms, despite the fact that he knew she wasn't going to try to run after Harry again.

After what seemed like an eternity, and after he started to see dementors swarming over the lake, Snape let go of Hermione and gently pulled her to the side. He quietly told her to watch over the injured Weasley boy as he went looking for Potter.

He wasn't a hard man to find, to be honest.

As soon as Snape stepped up to the banks of the lake, he found Potter. He was passed out on the ground, laid out next to his filthy criminal godfather.

Snape reached down and brushed a lock of hair away from Harry's eye before gently picking him up and cradling him to his chest. As he struggled up the banks, he sent a message, by way of Patronus, to Dumbledore, informing the Headmaster of where to find Black.

He silently made his way to the castle with Potter in his arms, Weasley and Granger trailing behind him. And he thought maybe, just maybe, this idiotic, daring, brave boy would save the world after all.


End file.
